Blackburne House is a Liverpool-based charity that supports the development of local - and often vulnerable - women. With a core focus on education, they offer a range of nationally-recognised courses and qualifications to women - particularly in sectors in which women are still under-represented.
At Blackburne House Education, we believe in empowering women to build careers, not just jobs, and to create better futures for themselves and their families. This funding has allowed us to scale our work in a way that is both impactful and sustainable. It ensures we can deliver on our promise of supporting women, especially those facing the greatest barriers, to achieve their full potential. With this support, we are not just running programmes—we are transforming lives.
Challenge
Blackburne House Education (BHE), officially registered as Women’s Technology Training Limited (WTTL), was established in 1983 with the mission of supporting women from disadvantaged backgrounds to access education and progress into employment within technical professions—an area where women were significantly underrepresented at the time. Over the decades, Blackburne House has become a beacon of opportunity, offering a safe, inclusive, and diverse environment that breaks down barriers to education for women.
BHE is deeply committed to creating pathways for women to succeed. This includes providing fully funded courses for those on low incomes or in receipt of means-tested benefits, helping women develop vital skills and secure qualifications that can transform their lives. The organisation’s education contracts have seen significant growth in recent years, enabling them to provide even more women with life-changing educational opportunities. However, the nature of these contracts—paid on actuals—created a working capital challenge, limiting the organisation’s ability to scale at the ambitious pace they were aiming for.
Solution
Having previously accessed repayable finance from Livv Investment (part of Livv Housing Group) in 2018, Blackburne House leveraged this existing relationship to secure further social investment from Livv Investment’s newly launched Livv and Flourish Fund. The investment provided a vital blend of repayable finance and grant funding, equipping Blackburne House with the working capital needed to maintain its growth trajectory while continuing to deliver impactful programmes.
The blended finance structure included a £20,000 grant element, which has been strategically reinvested into the organisation to support its long-term sustainability. Key investments include enhancing IT infrastructure and developing more robust marketing strategies and activities to reach and engage even more women across the Liverpool City Region.
The social investment has enabled Blackburne House to pursue ambitious growth targets of up to 30-40%+, ensuring they can continue to deliver vital educational programmes for approximately 500-700 women each year.
Revenue
Blackburne House Education delivers crses funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The ESFA funding also includes a focus on 16-19-year-old learners. Payments for these contracts are made in arrears and course completion, making the additional working capital from Livv Investment essential to support ongoing operations and scale effectively.
Impact
With the support of social investment, Blackburne House Education has made extraordinary progress. Freed from the constant pressures of cashflow management, the organisation has been able to focus on what truly matters: empowering women to achieve their aspirations.
The women they serve—many of whom come from some of the most deprived areas and backgrounds—are now being supported not just to find jobs, but to build meaningful careers. This focus on long-term career development ensures that the impact of Blackburne House’s work extends well beyond the classroom, creating ripple effects that benefit families, communities, and local economies.
Through innovative programming, strategic investments, and the support of social finance, Blackburne House Education continues to grow as a sustainable, effective organisation that puts women at the heart of everything it does.
Blackburne House were suited to this investment because they were looking to grow and become more sustainable, whilst creating additional social impact across the Liverpool City Region and supporting the lives of women in our communities.